Nathan Cullen & Thomas Mulcair in Terrace last month – photo courtesy federal NDP

Prince George, B.C. – Skeena-Bulkley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen plans to table a bill that would ban super-tankers off of B.C.’s North Coast when parliament resumes in Ottawa next week.

“The inspiration for the bill has come from all the trouble surrounding the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline,” says Cullen.

“I’m happy that I’m able to take some good from what has generally been a really bad experience for those of us in the north.”

If passed, he says the bill would “greatly increase the power and importance of local voices that are impacted by any proposal of a pipeline across Canada.”

He says under current legislation, the National Energy Board (NEB) hearings are unfair.

“You saw this with Northern Gateway when so many people standing in opposition and voicing that opposition were essentially ignored – given some lip service and approval still going ahead.”

Cullen says the bill also contains a provision that would require the NEB to favour projects with a value added component.

“When we’re talking about bitumen – that means upgrading it to being refined and again applying that to any pipeline proposal in the country.”

He claims the bill would be a positive step forward and a drastic departure from how the federal government approaches natural resource projects.

“The approach used by the Conservatives is leaving a lot of Canadians behind and is undercutting our future prosperity as seen in how we export raw logs in B.C.”